6 Years Later
by Potter's Prince
Summary: Myrnin returns after 6 years of being away from Morganville (story stems from half way through bitter blood, a few spoilers for the beginning may be inside) to find the town has changed in a rather drastic way. Claire is on her own and now that she has an ally, will stop at nothing to get her friends back. (No Myrnin/Claire. (Shane/Claire all the way)) Rtd T for possible violence
1. Myrnin returns

6 years. 6 whole, agonising years Myrnin had been away from the place that felt most like home to him. Honestly, it was the only place he'd ever stayed long enough for it to deserve a status in his heart. It hadn't been easy, leaving without Claire, she had known she could leave that place, go with Myrnin and have a chance to live, but she had stayed, for the sake of her friends. Now, returning after 6 years, Myrnin's brain couldn't help but come up with alternate realities to what was happening in his beloved home town, like his young, exuberant assistant becoming nothing more than vampire chow after he'd left. Claire was the only one, aside from Ada, that would put up with Myrnin for long periods of time and not get bored and dismiss him as if he were some feeble old human that spoke of nothing but nonsense all day and dribbled in a rocking chair. Standing at the energy barrier in the rising morning light - he'd had to travel during nightfall to make it to his destination in one piece rather than ashes - Myrnin realised how much he truly had missed life back in the dangerous Texas Town. More importantly, he had missed Bob terribly, briefly he wondered how the spider was doing, if it had been eating, or whether its life force had not been meant to be around for the eight years it had, whether the dear pet had passed without knowing that Myrnin had missed him. Pressing a hand to the energy field that Myrnin could feel with his heightened senses he contemplated if anyone would welcome him back? Would Amelie forgive him for ducking out on her? Or had Oliver gotten to her and turned her dark side? So many questions raced through his overactive mind, one popping up more regularly that others, Is Claire alive?... She had probably gone on to marry Shane and had kids and forgotten all about her, slightly abusive, - through no fault of his own - boss. Or maybe she missed him, waited patiently for his return? He couldn't allow himself to get his hopes up but also couldn't allow the fear to set in too far. He needed to see Morganville and what it had become in his absence.

Myrnin stepped through the barrier with a boost of nervous energy.

Morganville stood in front of him, a proud town, much more proud than before, this was not a comforting thought. Myrnin took each step one at a time, carefully placing his feet as if there was a mine that could blow them off. The truth was, the more careful he was with each step, the longer it would take him to reach the town hall to get some information. Half way through his tiny pace, Myrnin paused, did he really want to go find out what was happening now? Or would he like to go see his old home again, check on Bob? Choosing the latter, Myrnin allowed his feet to guide him along the familiar streets, breathing in the similar smells that he missed, mostly, the smell of the humid desert and acrid scent of the cars.

On his way, Myrnin's nose caught a whiff of blood and he turned to see where the smell was coming from, not being able to feed for fear of being caught, Myrnin could mostly control his carnal instincts. A young girl, roughly 20's, that he didn't recognise came into view on the street opposite the May house and she stopped dead when she saw him, then broke into a run in the other direction, heading a direction that Myrnin couldn't have cared less about, her reaction to him was enough to determine that vampires were still at large in the sleepy town, and since she was the only human Myrnin had seen, he came to the conclusion that in this town, they were now a dying breed.

The way down his small alley way was short and the dim lighting and dank setting were enough to ease his mind that some things never changed. The lab that resides under the buildings behind the day house were much like Myrnin had left them, or so he thought until he flicked the light on. Everything was stacked neatly, there was no dust in the air and the chalk board had fresh equations written in spiral patterns around the rim. Someone had been using his lab while he was away and judging by the neatness of his work areas, Myrnin had an idea who. Claire, the darling girl had been using his laboratories recently! That meant she was alive! Myrnin was so happy that he forgot to be annoyed that his work had been moved around, obviously the girl had seen the sense of spiral formulas, however, which was some merit in her corner. The dingy room was a welcome home to Myrnin and he took in the sights as if it was blood for a starving vampire, which, in a way, it was. Heading towards the back of his home, Myrnin noticed a cage in the corner with something moving inside of it, BOB! He was alive! Claire must have been feeding him! Myrnin contemplating kissing the girl when he next saw her, but as much as he wanted to, decided against it because he didn't want to be torn to shreds by the Collins boy.  
"Frank?" Myrnin called out tentatively, not sure whether he was or wasn't expecting a reply but sure enough there was a flicker to his left and the ghostly figure of a disgruntled man appeared. The apparition wasn't nearly as strong as it had been when Myrnin had last seen it, he could only assume that Claire had figured out a way to keep the machine going without as much blood.  
"You're back?" Frank said in a monotone, it seemed he couldn't muster as much emotion as he wanted to if the bitter look on his face was anything to go by.  
"Yes. Has Claire been back here since I left?"  
"How should I know? I have been sleeping since she fixed up the machine, I can only come when called now and she hasn't so I am as much in the dark as you are." Frank seemed disinterested and the emotion looked genuine so Myrnin gave up on trying to figure him out.  
"Is the machine still in the same place?"  
"Why? What are you going to do?" The apparition looked suspicious but it's voice remained unfeeling. Myrnin walked away from the ghost and towards the hole he knew would be in the floor further to the back of the lab. Upon reaching his home, Myrnin jumped the huge distance down and landed lightly, like a cat. Hanging on the wall in the lit hallway was something that almost made him cry, Claire had evidently missed him because hung on the wall, looking crumpled - and smelling strongly of her - were Myrnin's lab coat and worn down bunny slippers with fangs, it was a sight that made him smile genuinely for the first time in a while, it was a small, sweet gesture that would have stopped his heart, that is, if it had been beating to start with. Breathing in the scent for a second, Myrnin slid his feet into the shoes, leaving the lab coat, and continued down the corridor. He came to the opening into the cave with the machine in the middle where it always stood but Myrnin noticed a lot of Claire's additions and alterations in the machine, he also noticed that it wasn't that Claire wasn't feeding the machine at all really, it was that she had used a constant feed from a blood bag of almost stale O negative. Anyone with common sense knew that the best thing for a machine like this one was AB positive and a fresh flow, that was only if it _had_ to be human blood, if not, it could be any kind of blood from a vampire straight from the vein. Myrnin walked to the machine and slammed his hand into the metal needle still jutting from a copper plate half way down the contraption; he felt the blood being drained from his body and watched as the machine whirred into a stronger state of life and the apparition of Frank Collins appeared behind him, a sadistic gleam on his face.  
"You shouldn't have done that."

Myrnin jumped violently at the voice behind him, and turned to see who it was, a girl stood behind him, a stone expression on her face as she brushed him out the way to examine the machine. She pulled his hand off the copper plate and began pressing various buttons that hadn't been there when Myrnin created the device. "He isn't good to have strong blood, we kept him on that for a while but he went crazy and did strange things with the town. Thank you, for ruining our defence, he has to go offline for a couple of days, nice one Myrnin." She told him sternly and all he could do was stare at her short frame.  
"C-Claire?" He managed to choke out after a while. She had changed, her pixie cut black hair was longer and styled in soft curls around her shoulders, she had grown a small amount but still wasn't quite average height but she really had grown up, and my god, she was now so beautiful. A soft smile played on her lips as she readjusted a setting on the screen on the machine.  
"How have you been, Myrnin?" She didn't even glance up but he could hear that she wasn't really angry with him, not properly, her voice had softened into a caring tone.  
"Uh, good... you?"  
"Fine, I suppose. Mary, she's been in Morganville since 3 weeks after you left, she saw you on her way home and panicked, she came straight to me at the Mayor's office, I didn't let anyone else come, I knew it had to be you, they'd have killed you without a second thought. We don't really take kindly to vampires here anymore."

Myrnin didn't know where to start, what was Claire doing at the mayor's office? Since when did she order people around? and what was with the policies on vampires? Wasn't this town run by vampires?

"I can see you have a lot of questions. Come with me to my office at the town hall and I'll explain everything okay?" Claire asked with a smile as she finished her tampering with the machine and Frank disappeared with the sound of a small static discharge. All Myrnin could do in response was nod and he followed Claire out of the room and back down the hall. She paused at the lab coat and took it off the hook, handing it to him with a wistful quirk of the lips. "I believe this belongs to you,"

Myrnin took his coat gently from her and swung it gracefully around his shoulders, putting his arms through the familiar sleeves and relishing in the scent that came from it, it was a guilty pleasure that he didn't let on to Claire.

After leaving the building and back into the alley way, Claire muttered "It's good to have you back, boss," and Myrnin smiled, not much had changed with his assistant, she was still the quirky girl he knew.  
"Missed you too," he whispered almost imperceptibly, but the smile on her face meant that she'd heard him, no matter how subtle he'd been trying to be.

They reached the town hall after not too long, all the way discussing what Claire had done to the lab and how she had enhanced his machinery and Myrnin had to admit, he wouldn't have thought of a lot of the things she'd done. It had also seemed to fix a lot of the problems he'd been having. The mayor's office was different from how he remembered, mostly because it was Amelie's office in the Town Square instead of the one located in the town hall.

"Please, take a seat." Claire smiled and gestured to the empty white leather chair across from her glass desk. As Myrnin sat down opposite her, he took the time to see what else other that her hair had changed. Her dress sense was much more conservative and formal, a white, fitted, short suit jacket hung perfectly over a turquoise, soft shirt. The jacket had a delicate pattern down the sleeve that, on closer inspection, turned out to be intricate skulls embroidered in a cascading flower formation over Claire's arm. She wasn't all that formal, however, because she wore blue denim jeans with a bootleg and shoes that looked suspiciously like Eve's biker boots.

"I'm sure you have questions, ask away and I'll answer as best I can." She looked at her nails, painted turquoise and ran an absent hand through the ends of her hair.  
"I, uh, where do I start?" Myrnin, didn't know what he wanted to know, everything, but then at the same time, nothing. If he learnt too much, would he see things the same way?  
"I see, shall I start from what happened since you left 6 years ago?" Myrnin nodded.


	2. What Happened, Claire?

#FLASHBACK#

_"Claire? You okay?" Shane asked wearily, he was tired and he'd heard a noise as someone went down the stairs of the Glass House. Getting out of bed he'd gone to see who it was and seen Claire sitting on the sofa, tears filling her eyes slightly.  
"Shane? What? - oh, I'm okay. I think, just a little confused. He's gone. He thinks something's going to happen." She looked up at Shane her eyes wide and frightened, it looked a little like she'd just snapped after 3 years of living with the strange abnormalities that the town had to offer, " Are we going to die this year, Shane?" He shoved her lightly along the sofa and climbed next to her, holding her tightly in his arms.  
"No, we're not going to die, Claire. We have survived this far, thanks to you, we'll do it again. Who's gone, Claire?"  
"Myrnin. He came to see me. Said Amelie and Oliver, they're planning something. Oliver should never have been allowed close to her. Bad things, bad things, Shane. We'll die. He told me, I need to get out, I need to leave Morganville. I said no. Can't leave you." The girl was just muttering now, he face buried in the crook of Shane's neck, tears leaking down under his shirt from her crying. "I don't wanna die."  
"I know." _

_Claire had fallen asleep in his arms, and unaware of what else to do with her, he lay down and cradled her in her sleep, holding tight and never intending to let go._

#END FLASHBACK#

* * *

"That was my pathetic moment after you left. I panicked, I thought that if you were scared, that meant we were doomed, but I couldn't leave without them. So I made my decision to die with them." Claire said bitterly, twisting something on her left hand around her finger. Myrnin then noticed what it was for the first time, an engagement and wedding ring. So Claire had married Shane.  
"Then what?" He prompted, disappointment rising in his throat before he could stop it.  
"Well, then..."

* * *

#FLASHBACK#

_A Few Months Later_

_"Bitch!" Eve shouted from the doorway, drawing Claire's attention from the experiment she was conducting. Eve never came to Myrnin's lab unless forced, what was she doing here? "Michael said that tonight there was something going down at the Founder's Council. He's injured and the place really did not sound exactly U rated at the moment. I'd steer clear of it if I were you, if they don't like me, they're not going to like you after what you did with Monica, queen bitch as mayor. They all think you were doing it to manipulate them, they're pissed. Oh, and I bought you coffee." Eve placed the take-away Common Grounds cup on the table and squealed when Bob the spider extended a lazy leg towards her, Eve evidently hadn't noticed the snoozing creature on the work bench. "Uh, Claire, honey, you're wearing Bunny slippers with fangs..." She pointed out carefully.  
"I know. They're comfortable, and I miss him." Eve stared incredulously at her, "Don't give me that look, Eve. He was my friend, I had to look after him and, when he wasn't trying to bite me, it was fun. He understood a hell of a lot more of the work that I do than you, Michael and Shane put together!" The Goth considered this and stuck her tongue out at her best friend.  
"Love you CB, but something's going down, you know Amelie has a personal vendetta against you now. Chow."  
"Eve... It's Chao... Not chow."  
"Oh." _

#END FLASHBACK#

* * *

"Why did Amelie have a personal vendetta against you?" Myrnin found himself asking slowly. Claire's face twisted into a small evil smile.  
"Well, basically... I killed about a dozen vampires, with silver. Shane and I were going to her to discuss some new hunting laws she put in and they wouldn't get out of my way. I was angry you see, they were irritating. I stopped being the nice girl you knew that day as soon as people I knew began to die. Hannah Moses, she was the first one they killed, the new hunting laws included Shane and Eve as well, but not me. Mostly because I think she wanted to see me suffer once they were dead because I'd been causing her so much trouble. So I went down to the office with Shane and they wouldn't let me see her to drive a stake through her heart, so I did it to them instead." Myrnin was impressed how the little scrap of a girl could get past over a dozen vampires and to the founder without being torn to shreds.  
"She hated you because of that?"  
"It didn't take much did it?" Claire smiled bitterly again and frowned slightly. "That's what began the great Morganville war."

Myrnin cocked his head to one side, inviting Claire to continue but she seemed to be struggling. Tears were creating a sheen across her eyes and Myrnin was fairly certain that everything she could see at the moment would be blurry. The vampire sat there awkwardly, not entirely sure what he was supposed to be doing. Should he comfort her? In the end, it seemed he didn't have to because Claire coughed, swallowed the threat of tears and opened her mouth as if to speak. No words came out. Myrnin didn't want to push her, but he would be lying if he said that he wasn't curious as to what had her so upset.

"First..." She began finally, breathing slowly and stopping every few seconds to sniff, "First was the return of Captain Obvious. We never found out who it was this time; the warehouse was burned down after the first message was sent out. 25 people died in the fire, including Monica Morrell. I feel very strange saying this, but that was the one thing that got me out for revenge. I mean, I didn't much like the girl, that's obvious, but she wasn't so bad after Richard passed away, sometimes she'd even come over to the house to check that we weren't being harassed too much or anything by the people that disagreed with... um, my friend's wedding."

"Michael and Eve?" Asked Myrnin, just to make sure he was following correctly. Claire winced but nodded at him.

"... S-Shane and I couldn't go to common grounds anymore, not since the whole thing with Amelie, Oliver was guarding and threatened us every time we went near. It was after about two weeks that the new hunting laws began to affect the town drastically. Shane was the first to be hit. The vampire that got him drained him to within an inch of his life before leaving him to bleed out on the pavement; the vampires couldn't be accountable for the deaths unless they were present at the time of death. This one ran off before Shane would have died and Eve found him a few moments later on her way home from her common grounds shift. She took him to the hospital and contacted Michael and I, we were both at home." Myrnin nodded all the way through her explanations and couldn't help but feel ultra curious why she kept flinching slightly whenever mention of her friends came up. Had something happened to them? He decided not to mention it.

"The humans of the town fought back gradually after that. It was only a matter of time, with all my knowledge of the inner workings of the vampires until we had nearly all of them either dead or captured. By the third year after you'd gone, we'd successfully gotten rid of at least 70 per cent of the vampire population of Morganville, Amelie underestimated the power of thousands of humans working during the day with tons of mirrors. They came outside and even with their skin mostly immune to the suns glares, the mirrors reflected it all over their bodies. It was quite a sight, many of them burst into flames and ran into each other, setting the next vamps on fire. Shane and I were in charge of checking for any that remained, which was quite a few and with the help of other town members, we put them into the jail cells, you know? Where all the ill vampires used to be kept. It was basically quitting blood cold turkey. They didn't like that. You could hear them screaming all over town.

"Amelie was amongst the ones we captured and Oliver... well, I killed him personally. He tried to kill Eve at work and I stuck a silver stake in his chest." She shuddered at the memory, "I still have a scar on my hand, see? Where he sunk one fang into my hand as the silver ate at him. It was very gross. I'll never forget the look on Amelie's face. It was murderous. That was her other reason for doing what she did 2 years ago."  
Myrnin saw that Claire was reaching a point that was going to hurt her very much to say out loud but he needed to know what had happened.

"The towns people wouldn't let me find them..." Tears began to pour from her eyes. Tears that she appeared to have been holding back for 2 years at least. "Myrnin... 2 and a half years ago, I married Shane, my name is now Claire C-Collins. 2 years ago, Amelie escaped the confines of the jail and sh-she ran away, went into hiding."

"That's not that bad! She hasn't come back to hurt you has she?" Myrnin asked.

"No. When she left... she took them with her. She knocked them all unconscious and escaped into the night with them. All I got was a note and no one would help me look for them. They're gone, but they're alive. They have to be!"

"Who, Claire?"

"SHANE, EVE AND MICHAEL!" Claire wailed, tears coming faster than ever now and her pixie face was screwed up against the onslaught of water. "They're gone... I have no one. For 2 years I've had no one..."

Myrnin stood up and went around the side of the desk, giving her a very gentle but awkward pat on the back, he said "Well not anymore. Now, you've got me."


	3. Staples

**A/N : Hey guys! I'm sorry i haven't updated for so long! I am really bogged down with a lot of work :) i am trying to update quickly and by the summer I will be updating more often I hope!:D thank you for sticking it out with me... **

**Please Please Please go read the fiction by author: Eve Rosser-Glass. She is an amazing writer and has helped my with my ideas!**

**Thanks again:)**

Myrnin didn't know how long he held Claire in his arms as silent tears rolled from her eyes and down her rosy cheeks; if he had to guess, he would have said at least fifteen minutes. The sleeve of his lab coat was a dark, damp colour where it was now soaked through with salt water.  
"E-Excuse me a second please, Myrnin," Claire mumbled, leaning back and dragging the back of a shaking hand across her face in an attempt to expel her tears. It only succeeded in making her pale skin red and raw. Myrnin unravelled his arms from around her as she climbed to her feet and brushed imaginary lint off of her sleeves to avoid looking her former boss in the eyes.  
"Claire..."  
"Don't. " She interrupted him sliding around the desk and moving across the soft carpet towards the door at a brisk pace. Just before opening it, she turned back slightly, still not looking directly at him. "I'm going to talk to Mary for a moment; when I get back I will show you what changes I have incorporated into this town since the Vampire's left." She left the office, pulling the door closed behind her with a click.

Myrnin stood alone in the room feeling dread for the first time. Claire had been alone, that meant no one to open up to, no one that cared for her; naturally she had built up protections in her psyche. Walls that were designed to keep even _him_ out. This new Claire was stronger, yes, but also more vulnerable at the same time. Prolonged mention of her friends could be enough in some situations to crack her. This worried Myrnin, slightly more than the fact that she closed up when he was close to her. He thought that even though six years had passed, she may still have retained some trust for him. Turns out she hadn't. Claire Collins seemed to trust no one, except maybe this Mary person. With Claire out of the room for the time being, Myrnin decided that now was his chance to find out as much as he could about this new girl as he could, so he began to explore the office. First was the pine bookshelf in the corner adjacent to the door, but it wasn't the books that caught his eye when he looked at that piece of furniture. Perched on top was a silver framed image - Myrnin knew this because he had reached out to get a better look at it, burning him outstretched fingers in the process - it was of four people. Claire, Eve and Michael were in the foreground of the photo. The girls were tackling Michael to the ground holding stakes and grinning; Michael's expression was mock fear. The other person in the photo was Shane, he stood at the back just behind the scene smiling a smile filled with so much love for his three best friends. If Myrnin's heart had been beating, it would have just broke for Claire. She had lost so much when her friends went missing, that much was obvious.

Myrnin continued his perusal of the office, there were dying flowers - Geraniums and Poppies if Myrnin's botanical knowledge had not failed him - and only one flourishing plant: Nightshade, on the windowsill, it was slightly worrying to see such a poisonous plant in a human's office but Myrnin knew that if he brought it up Claire would snap at him. Inside the room Myrnin found other things that interested him, including a mechanical pencil sharpener that distracted him for two whole minutes, and a rather curious looking device that turned out to be a hole-puncher. Overall, however, he didn't find much evidence to tell him about the new Claire other than the fact that she was still a silver hoarder. Her desk drawers each had at least one silver coated stake, three silver nitrate bullets and a gun to fire them with; she seemed to be expecting an army.

Outside, Claire was sitting on Mary's desk while the girl typed viciously at her computer. This girl was insane at multitasking; Claire had once seen her murdering a vampire with a flame thrower whilst killing about three others with silver throwing knives. It was one of the main reasons that Claire had hired Mary as her secretary. That, and she wanted someone to talk to, Mary had been the only one to agree that Claire should look for Eve, Michael and Shane.  
"...I just can't believe he's back, Em," Claire said to her friend, picking up a stapler and stapling the edge of the desk. Mary allowed her to because it had become a habit, when Claire was nervous or upset, she'd staple things. It began just after her friends had disappeared. Claire had just stapled the wall in her room at the Glass House with bits of paper for college and threw herself into work; sooner or later she had stopped needing the paper as an excuse. There was a line of about 50 staples running along the rim of Mary's desk where Claire had come to talk to her and gotten upset over something that was worrying her. Sometimes they wouldn't even talk; Claire would just add a few staples the desk and Mary would work. The girl knew she wasn't a replacement, nor would she ever replace, Eve Rosser-Glass, but she was glad that Claire could talk to her about things because she could see that her boss needed it sometimes.  
"I know. From the things you told me about him though, I expected him to be a little more... well, crazy is as good a word as any, I suppose..." Claire laughed at the statement.  
"He used to be. He was quirky, though he bit me sometimes. I believe the years away from this forsaken place appear to have done him some good. Though I'm sure he's not completely out of the crazy phase. He probably has his moments." She was thoughtful. "I opened up properly to him today. It was strange - no offence, but I haven't done that in a while-"  
"None taken"  
"It's nice to see him... but can I really trust him, Em? He seems all sane, he can't have managed that on his own! What if he's with Amelie. And will the towns folk tolerate a vampire back in the town?"

SNAP SNAP SNAP went the stapler, accidently pinning the edge of Claire's immaculate trousers to the desk. She swore.  
"Ohhhh! These are a good pair as well! Mary, would you pass me that letter opener, I'm going to have to pull the staple out. Dammit!" She grumbled as she took the blunt object offered and prised the staple from her trousers, tossing it across the room. "Oh Mary, I really hope I can trust Myrnin. What if I can't though? What if he _is_ Amelie's spy and all my old friends are now gone? I've lost too much to lose the little bit of hope I got back when I saw him!"

"Miss Claire! Calm down!" Mary began, stopping typing and placing her hands over her friend's, "Myrnin seems stable at the moment, that is good news. You're panicking yourself. You've built your walls so high that no one can climb them, but that leads to your anxiety attacks. Miss Claire, you must calm yourself or you're going to work yourself up again. Remember last week? Shane wouldn't want this! Breathe!" Claire breathed. Mary had worked out the best ways to get her boss to calm down, it mostly involved mentioning the woman's husband, that way she'd go off into her own little world and think about him. It was always slightly worrying though that Claire Collins was losing her grip on reality. "Go back, talk to Myrnin. You'll never know unless you ask. From what you've told me about him, he doesn't sound like he'd ever betray you."

"A lot can change in 6 years." Claire muttered, fully composed from her little panic and looked around, standing up and straightening her trousers. "Right, well, wish me luck." She said, and hurried off down the hall.

In her head, Claire made a mental map of the sites that she wanted to show Myrnin, not that much in terms of infrastructure had changed, just more, the atmosphere. The corridor felt very short and before she knew it, she was standing in front of the door to her office, breathing deeply. It was now or never. She opened the door.

"Myrnin, so I-" Claire stopped short. Inside the room she was met with a very strange sight. Myrnin was perched upon the edge of her desk in a very owl like fashion, staring wide eyed at something and occasionally poking it. He hadn't noticed Claire. The touch lamp was turning on, getting brighter and then turning off each time Myrnin poked it, Claire couldn't help but giggle at the bizarre sight in front of her. Myrnin spun around, toppling off the desk but landing cat-like on the ground and glancing up at the sound Claire had made. The lamp was still on so he reached out behind him and poked it one more time for good measure, it blinked out with a faint clink. Looking around, Claire could tell that Myrnin had been searching for something, nothing ever changed in her office because she was the only one that went in there. Her hole-puncher was open and it's confetti like contents were buried in the carpet like little white snow peaks on each individual carpet strand mountain; the photo of her friends had a faint patch of smouldered skin where Myrnin had tried to touch it; and the geraniums and poppies on the windowsill were no longer there, the soil was strewn across the floor and the flowers were in a glass of water that Claire had been drinking. Myrnin had tried to revive them.

"I'm not even going to want to know what happened here, am I?" Claire asked cautiously, "What am I going to do with you, Myrnin? You're like a puppy! I leave you alone for two minutes and you trash the place! And would you please stand up, you look a little intimidating crouching like that, it reminds me of when you used to attack me." Myrnin straightened up at once, pulling at the lab coat to remove the creases so that he looked presentable.

"Shall we go?" He asked, composing himself and trying to cover the fact that he was fishing soil from his pockets.

"Uh, yes, lets..." Claire hesitated, stuck between giggling more and scolding him for the state of her office but before she got the chance to do either, Myrnin had swept forward and linked arms with her, a reassuring grin plastered on his face. He dragged her out of the door, down the corridor and into the streets, waving to Mary at the front desk as they passed. Claire was just trying not to trip over the high boots that she was wearing. "So where are my bunny slippers, may I inquire?" Myrnin asked suddenly when they were out in the open air.

"They're mine now." Claire replied with a grin, dragging Myrnin by the arm down the road.

**Has being away from her friends for so long made Claire go a little psycho? Find out next time...**

**And it would mean the world to me if you would review. I feel very disheartened when people don't because i don't know whether you're all enjoying it or not! So pleeasee, review? :D Free cookies to everyone that does ;)**


	4. The Memorial

**A/N - I'm getting there guys! Next chapter, finally. Thank you for sticking with this story. I love all of you that reviewed and here *hands out the cookies that I promised* Please review again!**

"I have a question for you, Claire?" Myrnin queried as he steered Claire down the road without consent. They passed buildings with brand new bricks and roofs, and the potholes in the road that Myrnin remembered were now filled in.  
"Go ahead," The girl, tucked loosely at his side, said as she stumbled along beside the vampire.  
"How come you're the mayor? Not that I don't think you're a wonderful choice; was it a decision made after Amelie was gone?"

The streets were only just light enough from the moonlight to be able to see shadows dancing in the alleyways, but other than that, the roads were completely abandoned. Darkened backstreets became pitch black in comparison to the white reflection of the moon. Out of instinct, Claire gripped more tightly to Myrnin's arm as she took over the leading, taking them in a different direction to the one that Myrnin had been moving towards. The way she guided him around, it was like Claire had forgotten that Myrnin could see perfectly through the hazy darkness.

It was strange for the vampire to see the tarmac and concrete so blank and empty. Before he left 6 years ago, during the day, humans roamed around, going about their business. But at this time - 11 O'clock according to the clock in Claire's office that Myrnin had knocked over - was vampire hour. No matter what time of year it was, 11 at night was always just dark enough for vampires to go outside without protective clothing. At any point in the day, however, there was always people, the silence here was... deafening. It was just too empty.

"After Amelie... left, I was distraught. Mary encouraged me to become the mayor, or at least to run for mayor. She said that it'd keep my mind off of things and I could make a difference to the town, it was good advice. I became the mayor and I've helped a lot of people, I think." Claire replied, smiling. Myrnin nodded in response, his curiosity satisfied for the time being.

As the pair wound their way along roads and between houses, some with the lights on, some not, Claire explained what she'd changed about the town.  
"Well, the cages are gone, if you saw that back in the town square. Those were the first to go, thank God. The college students are free to go about Morganville whenever they want, even at night, and we had one major change... Do you recognise where we are?" Claire said as they rounded a corner onto a part of town that Myrnin had very rarely visited before.

"Yes. This is where the warehouse that housed Captain Obvious used to stand," Myrnin said, looking at the ground and seeing, darker that the rest of the ground, patches of ash from the fire.  
"It seemed like the most appropriate place for the memorial," Claire smiled. This was one of the saddest places to go in town, but it was a place that Claire visited often. It was a sanctuary, it was beautiful.

Myrnin looked up at what Claire had referred to as a 'Memorial' and saw something that he was shocked that he hadn't noticed as soon as he'd got there. Stretched out across the entire area of the large warehouse was a field of gold. Each strand of grass individually sculpted to perfection out of the precious metal, and young children made from silver chasing each other around in a perpetual game of 'tag'. It had been a large warehouse, so the field of metal was vast and beautiful with a life sized silver oak tree at the furthest most corner. The leaves of the tree weren't silver, but Myrnin couldn't see from where he stood, what exact material they were.

"The leaves of the oak tree?" Claire guessed when he looked at her with a questioning expression. "Leather. This entire field, except for the items made from silver, are made from the protection bracelets. We got them all melted down and began a town project with the design students at the college, they created this," Claire beamed at her project with sadness showing beneath the cracks in her happy attitude.

"I come here, to think. It reflects the town, can you see?" The small girl pointed and Myrnin looked closely at the metallic structures, he could see himself in the arm of a child that stood mere feet from him. In fact, the entire town was reflected somewhere or another within the memorial. It showed every inch of the town that could see it and the grass was tinged blue from the night sky and moonlight. The actual moon, however, was a knot in the trunk of the large tree and Myrnin set of on the walk around the outside that would get him to the oak. There were paths of gold through the garden, however, Myrnin wasn't quite sure if he trusted himself enough not to trip, land on the silver and fry himself.

"There were no silver protection bracelets, we wouldn't have been able to touch them, so where did the silver come from?" Myrnin asked once he was certain that Claire had followed him. Now that he was closer to the tree, he could see his reflection properly and he took note of the fact that his eyes were growing red and hungry. He hadn't eaten in a while.

"Weapons. That's a solid tree trunk there, and that was only half of the weaponry that we used during the war, all been melted down. It was quite a battle," Claire came to stand beside him, folding her arms loosely across her chest, staring determinedly at the leather leaves. "The image is fitting, don't you think? The next generation, safe and happy?"

"Yes, in some ways it is fitting indeed. It seems a little out of place in this urban desert, though." Myrnin sighed, trying to will away the red that was clouding his vision and the enticing sound of Claire's blood pumping deliciously through her veins.  
"Stop being pedantic! It's had a wonderful effect on the townsfolk. They smile now, some people even lay flowers beside it. It's a true memorial to what the town has suffered, and we survived!"

Myrnin frowned, we survived? That's not quite right. "No, you survived." Claire's face fell slightly from it's smile.  
"What?"  
"My species has pretty much been wiped out. You survived, not we. Try to remember who's attention it is that you are entertaining," Claire lowered her eyes to the ground.  
"They murdered people without cause because their enemy was finally gone and they had nothing to fear. Well they were wrong. I lead the humans to do what I could to preserve us, but you can't say that we were the only selfish side in this war. At least we didn't eat your kind," Claire was getting angry, she had no reason to defend her actions against Myrnin, she had to protect what she loved.

"I didn't mean to cause anger, Claire. I merely meant, don't kid yourself that I'm human. I'm not, you know that better than most," Myrnin stepped forwards, regretting it almost instantly when the smell of blood intensified, but he couldn't take it back.

"I'm sorry, I - it's been a long time since I've seen anyone that was so integrated into my old life. It's hard not to want to tell you everything that happened from my point of view. I'm sorry I killed your friends, I had to protect those that I loved. Surely you understand?" Claire pleaded with her eyes and Myrnin felt his bitterness wash away.

Myrnin nodded and Claire moved forwards, gesturing towards the tree, a sadistic smile covering her usually perky features.  
"The tree was built for her. For Amelie. I have silver chains with her name on that will one day tie her to that tree so I can watch her burn. She's been marked from the moment that she took my family away from me," There was pain and regret etched in between every single word that the small mayor spoke. Myrnin wasn't left in any doubt, he didn't ever want to mess with the new Claire. She had become a stake-first-negotiate-later kind of woman, and that was scary.

"Myrnin, I want to find them," He didn't need to look around to know that Claire's eyes were filling with tears again, this time angry ones, he could smell the salt from where he stood. Her tough girl routine was breaking at the seams and Myrnin knew that the assistant that he'd know wasn't completely gone. It was a comforting thought.  
"I know, Claire," It was all that the vampire could think of to say. His jaw was aching from hunger and it was now an effort to speak without the urge to lunge. Claire's heightened emotions were just making the smell more potent and it was all Myrnin could do not to move his feet. She turned to look at him, and Myrnin couldn't stop his neck from turning his head to see her too.  
"Please help me," Mascara mixed with tears down Claire's cheeks, leaving black streaks on the pale skin. Myrnin reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder, allowing it to fall down her arm in a soothing gesture.  
"Of course, Claire." Before he had a chance to even move his mouth from where it had formed the last word, Claire was hugging him like he was a life raft in the middle of a shark infested ocean. There was a pause before anyone spoke again, Myrnin, trying desperately to wrestle with the compelling urge to bite the neck so close to his mouth that was consuming him.

They stood for a while, Myrnin fighting an internal battle, and Claire grateful to have an ally after so long. It soon became too much for Myrnin, however, and his jaw opened, teeth extending as he leant forward, his brain no longer in command of his actions. As soon as his mind caught up to his body, Myrnin shoved Claire away as fast as he could and moved away, placing one hand on the trunk of the tree.

Claire fell to the ground with a thump, landing just out of the way of the sharp golden grass, and she looked up to glare at Myrnin. The vampire was hissing in pain, refusing to move his hand from the tree, it sizzled and burned, flesh melting in grotesque fashion. The burning sensation in Myrnin's jaw ceased, replaced by that of his hand, but he still didn't move his hand until 3 of his fingers had been eaten away. Eventually, he let out a yell and snatched his injured arm to cradle it close to his body, the healing already beginning slowly. Pins and needles shot through the fried areas.

Claire climbed to her feet and went over to the vampire, horror written in her expression.  
"God, Myrnin why did you do that?! Are you okay?" The skin was healing fairly quickly, and Myrnin looked up at her, his eyes a fiery colour. Meeting her gaze, fangs extended.

Despite stepping back a few paces, Claire met his eyes unflinchingly and they stayed that way until the hand fully formed itself and the colour drained from Myrnin's eyes and he blinked.

"Sorry," Myrnin lowered his head, "I haven't eaten in a while. Is there anywhere that I can find something to eat?" Claire nodded stiffly, not speaking. She turned on her heel and walked away, slowly, waiting for Myrnin to follow.

Claire's head was spinning, Myrnin had tried to bite her! She wiped the remains of her tears off that clung to her skin. He hadn't changed quite as much as she'd thought then. Then again, he'd stopped himself in time... did that mean he was now in control of his mind? That was a strange concept.

"The blood bank in the hospital is the best place, I have a key. It was a privilege that Amelie ensured that the mayor had when she began appointing vampires into the powerful positions in society," Myrnin allowed his mind to wander to the woman that had once been his closest friend. None of what Claire described sounded like something that she would have done, back when he had first known Amelie. It was Bishop and everything that Morganville had gone through that turned the white queen to ice.

"The key is kept at my... at the Glass House. We'll have to go there to get it," Claire led the way. "While you were away, how have you suddenly become so... Sane?"

Myrnin chuckled, this was a story that he'd been a little bit reluctant to tell, but he supposed that she had told hers, Claire deserved to know his. Or at least some of it.

"I have a friend, she lives in Boston, her name's Jesse. She works with an old assistant of mine that I keep in contact with. They helped me. But that's as much as I can tell you Claire." Claire pouted, but didn't ask any more questions and they walked in comfortable silence. Just listening to the night.

It was only a few minutes until they reached the Glass House, and Claire fumbled for the keys in her pocket. Myrnin frowned, there was something off about the house, it wasn't right, but he couldn't place the source of what was making his skin prickle. Claire opened the door with the keys that she finally found, but Myrnin walked past her into the house first. Everything seemed normal.

Myrnin walked into the lounge and stopped dead. Claire bumped into him from behind, not having anticipated the sudden stop.  
"Myrnin, what the-" coming out from the side, Claire stopped speaking, her eyes widening in shock. She then dropped everything she was holding and tried to run forward with a shout of "EVE!".

Myrnin put an arm out and caught Claire around the waist, refusing to allow her to go to the side of her friend that lay bleeding on the carpet of the Glass house. Eve's hair was sprawled across her face, matted with blood.

"Don't go near her, Claire!" Myrnin shouted over Claire's continuous chorus of Eve's name. Eve lifted her head gingerly, moving a fraction of an inch at a time, clearly in pain. Claire was thrashing against Myrnin's hold violently now.  
"Why the hell not?!" She yelled, scrabbling to get to her friend whom she hadn't seem in over 2 years.

What came next made Claire stopped fighting, her entire body going slack as she fell onto Myrnin, his words causing her to fall in shock and guilt.  
"Because she's a vampire."


End file.
